18 June 2010
For the second year running, Corrections Inmate Employment (CIE) catering staff celebrated winning the Excellence in Training Workplace (Food Services/Catering) award at the Hospitality Standards Institute Awards in Auckland on Monday night.
“We’ve had teams make the finals for the Excellence in Training category for the past three years, and to come in with a win for the second year in a row is fantastic,” says Acting National Manager CIE Ruth Turner.
The Waikeria catering team took top honours this year. “This win continues to reinforce both the quality and value of all the training that we do in CIE and is well deserved recognition for our instructors,” says Ruth.
“There have been great results coming out of the Waikeria team, and this award is really the icing on the cake for them. The instructors have been working to such a consistently high standard that we’ve had some great prisoner training successes, including the first prisoner to ever gain their Level 3 National Certificate in Catering.
“In addition to this, one of the instructors on the Waikeria Catering Team, Vivienne Wairepo, won a Department of Corrections PRIDE award for her services to prisoner training this year,” says Ruth.
“It’s great to see CIE setting such a consistently high standard in hospitality training, and I congratulate them on winning this award,” says Hospitality Standards Institute Chief Executive Steve Hanrahan.
“CIE are providing prisoners with the chance to gain real, usable qualifications and this can only be an advantage to the hospitality sector. The number of prisoners gaining formal catering qualifications is continuing to increase, and we have real confidence in the level of training behind these qaulifications.
"Last night's win for Corrections really illustrates that their training is up there with the best being offered in New Zealand," says Mr Hanrahan.
Research shows that prisoners who find sustainable work on release are less likely to reoffend, ultimately improving public safety. Relevant work experience and training are key to finding and keeping employment, and the focus of CIE is to provide quality prisoner employment and training.
“Our staff are dedicated to helping prisoners gain the skills to turn their lives around. Having our teams consistently represented in the HSI awards is recognition that the hard work we are putting in, not only in Catering but across all areas of CIE, is making a difference,” says Ruth.
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